Capital markets fintech Capitolis has appointed former Citi securities head Okan Pekin as the company’s new president, effective immediately.
In the position, Pekin will work to scale a platform that facilitates capital optimisation by connecting banks, asset managers, and hedge funds, enabling them to manage balance sheets, reduce risk, and comply with regulatory requirements.
Capitolis was founded by CEO Gil Mandelzis in 2017, and is currently backed by Canapi Ventures, SVB Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Citi, among others.
Pekin has served as a board member to Capitolis on behalf of Citi for the past five years. He spent 36 years working for the US bank, including positions in equity prime finance, futures and clearing, FX prime brokerage, investor services, derivatives sales and debt capital markets for frequent issuers.
Most recently, Pekin served as global head of Citi’s $5 billion Securities Services business for five years up until his retirement in April.
The new president forms the latest addition to Capitolis’ expanding leadership team, joined by Amol Naik as chief operating officer in May, Melanie Carucci as global head of sales in September, and Richard Schiffman as chief product officer in October.
To fund this growth, the company completed a Series D funding round in August, raising $56 million in total with noted participation from Barclays, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, Canapi Ventures, Greenfield Partners, and 9Yards Capital.
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
